The Student Insurgent Issue 33.1

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! : STAFF: ALL THE COMRADES

I I EDITOR: J. ELLIS

I I MANAGER: ERIC HOWANIETZ

1 I PRISONER LIAISON: ALFREDO 0.A.
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GTFF Speaks Out Against UO’s Back to School Protocols

By: J. Ellis

During the first week of classes, the Graduate
Teaching Fellows Federation UO chapter took to
social media to amplify the concerns of its members
about the university's lack of effective COVID-19
precautions. A series of Twitter threads posted by @
GTFF_3544 contain screenshots with anonymous
tips graduate employees

and confessions of

mitigating COVID-19 and the return to campus. The
GTFF established a committee overseeing COVID
concerns amongst other concerns for GE health and
safety, who have communicated a set of demands to
the university that will work to guarantee the proper
precautions necessary to host classes on campus:

+ Proper on-campus protection

remotely

+ Options for students exposed so they aren't
incentivized to come to class sick

+ Options for students who need to take time out
of class due to illness, that enable them to be
successful in the class

+ Ensuring that the extra labor need to support

submitted via Instagram. There is a common theme +
in these messages, all express concern about cramped
classrooms and lecture halls lacking HEPA filter +

& lab

Sufficient HEPA filters in every classroom, office,

Only holding classes in rooms with sufficient

such students does not lead to GE overwork
+ Grading policies that don't punish students for
taking time off due to illness

ventilation, openable windows, and students and ventilation + Consistent contact tracing
professors not complying with mask mandates. + N95s for every student and how to wear them + __ Stable definition of “contact”
One GE wrote, “After two days of class (they already have this and would require just. « UO needsa contact tracing app like OSU's

on campus, it is clear that there are no consistent
guidelines being followed or reinforced. Each +
classroom and professor had a different protocol +
or preference on how to deal with covid [sic]; some +
seemed to be taking proper precautions while others «
made no attempt. I don't necessarily blame the +
professors, but I do believe that everyone should be
following the same (safe) protocol. Professors are
allowed to teach with masks off, which makes me

expanding it)

extremely uncomfortable, and there is clearly no +
social distancing in the classrooms”
The university approved
for classes to be held at pre-COVID
capacities in the spring of 2021.
According to the president of GTEE,
Miche Dreiling, both the GTFF
and the faculty union have raised
concerns about this decision for
months, and so far their concerns
have been validated by current
classroom conditions. According to
the reports, GEs are being exposed
to 140 to 400 student lectures. This
is too large a class size to allow for
social distancing. It is too soon to
tell what impact these class sizes will
have on COVID cases on campus,
but the student/worker perspective
compared with the administration's
on back to school safety protocols
illustrates a clear divide between
valuing precautions and profit.

The GTFF is working with
graduate educators and is actively
corresponding with administration
to advocate for better policies for

Drop Out, Stay Educated

By: Al Lehto (they/them/theirs)

I live near the university. The day I write this, all I can hear outside my windows
are students returning to campus. This year, I will not be one of them.

I'm taking a break from college for many reasons; A traumatic 2020
dorm experience, fear of in-person classes when the pandemic still persists, and
Michael Schill being lap dog for Phil Knight not being the least of the issues that
are making me take time for myself to heal. However, there's another huge reason
for my absence from school that has nagged at me even before I went to UO. That
ongoing fear that I am in the wrong place.

As the last several years of accumulating global peril have continued
to build, universities’ blatant corporate greed has made it difficult to convince
myself that I will be more stable, let alone happier, if I put in four years for a
degree. I know I've been tricked, that the stability capitalism promises anyone
who can afford the privilege of college is a lie. COVID taught me that. So why am
Istill here, planning my four year track?

I follow Insurgent and other student led activism groups on campus
because I believe in the empowerment of Education. However, I think that what
Education is to Schill, and what Education is to me ntirely different. For me,
education is community based direct action, anti-capitalist practices, restorative
healing from generational trauma. Education isn’t surface deep. It isn’t an email
from Schill in my inbox condemning Racism when it suits him. It’s Students
condemning Racism in practice; Anti-Racist Ideals that leave the Zoom room.
Even as I pretend to myself and my family that I plan to go back (and I probably
will, in some capacity) I’m looking for alternatives. Where can I become educated,
where can I feel in the right place.

While this short list is by no means comprehensive or right for everyone, I
encourage every reader to look into their own methods of dismantling corporate
education. Meanwhile, I have a few ideas that I have tried out for myself and
would like to share with you today.

1) Based in California, the Autonomous University for Political Education is a

Asymptomatic testing

Removal of the philosophical exemption
Remote for those who need it

Large (50+) classes need to be remote

People who have medical exemptions to the
vaccine mandate and people who share a
household with a person who can't get the
vaccine need the option of going remote

System for GEs to indicate that they need to work

GTF

The university's response to these requests is another
example of its continual efforts to placate its student
body in an effort to exploit higher education and
generate profit despite the lackluster quality of this
education in a pandemic. The administration issues
band-aid statements to give the appearance that it
is invested in student concerns, but its actions often
contradict its promises to undergraduates, graduates,
and faculty.

In President —Dreiling’s
words, “At the end of the day, no
student, no worker, no instructor...
should have to work or go to school
in an environment that they feel
is unsafe. Its very clear this week
that many _ students,
and instructors feel unsafe in the
environment...If you are going to
class and you don't feel safe, you're
not the only one. We as students
and as workers have power together.
During these times of collective
trauma, we're the only ones who are
going to look out for one another.
The administrators don't have to be
in the classroom sitting elbow-to-
elbow. I don't know another GE or
undergraduate student who is more
worried about the profit margin
than the health and wellbeing of
their classmates...The way forward
is together.”

workers,

wonderful, free Anti-Capitalist virtual school that bases all of it’s curriculum
on the work of Black, Indigenous, and Queer Activists from around the world.
All of the curriculum is developed by co-facilitators who team up to facilitate
cla: sat
the very beginning of the pandemic, and was the artist for their Cooperative
Economies course material zine. They’re a grassroots program (word-of-mouth),
so you won't find them online. Their work represents the possibility to start free,
decentralized education from scratch, without sus connections to NIKE or a
business degree.

2) Immersion is one of the best methods of education, which is why any student
who has considered a gap year should also consider staying in Cooperative
Housing. In a housing cooperative, there are no renters. Dwellers own the
property outright, and create their own system for house maintenance and
community living completely autonomously, without a shady landlord. The
SCA is a local cooperative system that aims to transform housing away from
capitalistic roots. SCA is also part of a larger organization, NASCO, that connects
student led housing all over North America. You can learn more about SCA at
https://eugenesca.com/ and NASCO at https://www.nasco.coop/ .

3) While Community College is still inherently an institution and isn’t suited
for everyone, I believe it’s a step in the right direction. Once I have rested from
the trauma UO has caused, I will likely enroll at LCC. Many 4 year university
students have turned down Community College because prestige based learning
(AKA: Capitalism 101) tells you a cheaper school means it is ‘less-than’ quality
wise. That is simply not true. Smaller class sizes, good teachers, and cheaper
fees are undeniably more connected to student’s needs than bigger profit grab
Universities.

Although four year universities are still intrinsically entwined in our
ary steps to be ‘successful, I'd like to begin daydreaming about
s to be alive, that don't require people to become fearful and indebted
in order to feel safe from houselessness and poverty. I hope these options inspired
you like they inspired me, and that we can continue to create more ways to be
alive together.

s and create accessible learning material. I took several of their cla:

Breaking news from the streets

A comrade was arrested for felony charges for
May 29, 2020. Their bail is set at $25k. We've also
heard that those bastards are going to be making
more arrests in the next two weeks so we have
two urgent asks of the community:

1) First and most importantly *DONATE* to
the bail fund on Venmo at @EugeneBailFund.
$1,$5,$10 — anything helps!! If you can’t donate,
please please please send this to as many people
as you possibly can! Feel free to post about it
without Jesse’s name on social media.

2) If you have comrades who were on the
frontlines during the uprisings, please check up
on them. Remind them to never talk to cops
and to never talk about what they may or may
not have done! Hold each other close, give each
other love, allow yourself to receive care if you
need it. This ongoing attack from the state is
meant to scare us into inaction because they are
afraid of us — and they fucking should be! But
don't let them dull your will to fight. this system
will keep kidnapping, assaulting, and destroying
us unless we stick together. I love you all so
deeply. Please take care of each other.

Climate Justice League,
YDSA, Disarm v0, GTFR
Fectairn UO, AND Mogel

"DECEPTICON" BY BEN.

MIN RICKER

Join HAND s, and Unite!

Eugene HAND seeks solutions and solidarity through direct action.
By: J. Ellis

On Monday night, September 6, 2021 a Springfield man, Robert Gutierrez, was
shot and killed by a Lane County sheriff deputy in his own home. In remembrance
of Gutierrez and other victims of police violence in Oregon, the Eugene Housing
and Neighborhood Defense (HAND) alongside affiliates organized an action
that took place on September 25 on the corner of 7th and Pearl in downtown
Eugene at the Lane County Sheriff's office and courthouse building. Their goal,
as stated in a tweet on HAND’s page, was to “unite against police violence and
murder of Robert Gutierrez by Deputy Zachary LaFoca” and host a solutions-
oriented public dialogue about the connection between police violence, housing
insecurity, and capitalism (Source: @eug_hand on Twitter). Gutierrez’s death is
yet another incident of excessive extrajudicial murder by the Eugene/Springfield
Police Department (EPD).

The event began at 3:00 pm and lasted approximately two hours, with
about four dozen participants attending the event in all. People from various
affinity groups with an array of concerns both attended and spoke at the event,
a total of nine people from the crowd gave speeches. The stated goal of the
organizers was to foster a conversation about injustice in the community that
would lead to tangible solutions. Each speaker took time to give their perspective
on the issues, describe conflicts faced by the community, and propose means for
achieving justice in our neighborhoods.

The first speaker gave a memorial speech that recounted the limited
information available to the public about the Gutierrez case. The speaker honored
the lives of several other community members who lost their lives to state
violence. Eliborio Rodriguez, an unhoused man murdered by EPD last year and
before then brutalized by UOPD officer Phillips was mentioned, and information
to financially support his family provided in the speech and the event's literature.

A few community members who stopped by spoke passionately about
their own experiences with EPD and how police violence continues to be an
issue even in a town with crisis programs like CAHOOTS. Their testimonies
exemplified how CAHOOTS is not enough to mitigate the violence instigated by
EPD. The discussion between concerned Eugenians at this demonstration made
clear that the only solution to abolish police violence is to abolish the police.

The resounding theme of the event and the speeches was summarized by
“one solution, revolution.” This crowd, like many leftists in late-stage capitalism,

was not exactly sure how to navigate the systemic barriers we're up against, but
theycould all agree that nothing short of drastic political, social, and ideological
changes were necessary to shatter the current oppressive hegemony.

Holding up signs and banners, we garnered the enthusiastic support
(and vitriol) of driving passersby- the protest was a glimmer of our community's
potential to participate in direct action and effect social change. Eugene Housing
and Neighborhood Defense continues to host workshops and actions that
promote community solidarity against racial and economic injustice in Eugene-
Springfield. They carry out important work in tenant advocacy, counteracting
gentrification, and combatting discrimination. Stay updated on their work and
support HAND at: https://linktr.ee/eughand

Friends and Comrades of Reclaim UO,

Fall term at the University of Oregon is here, making this the very first term with
large in-person classes since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. We,
like many others, see this occasion as both an opportunity for growth and change,
but also a cause for genuine concern about what could happen once we all return
to campus. Given these circumstances, we feel that this is the time for us to make
some announcements about the future of our organization and our plans for the
upcoming school year.

First and foremost, we have decided to change the name of our group to
Democratize UO. Our organization has opted for this name change because we
want to make our mission as direct and clear as possible. We feel that this new
name better reflects our core goal of democratizing the Board of Trustees at the
University of Oregon and how that goal would work to make the university as a
whole more democratic, accountable, transparent, and just.

Second, our organization is recommitting itself to on the ground,
grassroots organizing work. Although our social media presence has grown
significantly since the start of the pandemic and given us a platform to address
the concerns of students, faculty, staff, and community members, we recognize
the limits in relying on social media alone to grow and strengthen our group. The
pandemic prevented us from continuing the work that made us effective in the
first place, our organizing on campus and in person. With the return to campus,
we are seizing this opportunity to bring renewed attention to the vital issues the
whole UO community faces that have only been exacerbated and heightened since
COVID began. We will be organizing demonstrations on-campus and will begin
meeting in person once again (following all necessary safety protocols, including
masking). This will allow us to connect more directly with the campus community
and be more effective in getting our message heard and making progress towards
creating real change at UO.

Third, Democratize UO will be participating in an event organized
with the Climate Justice League and Disarm UO called the “Day of Demands.”
This event will be focused on highlighting the three main issues that activists
on the UO campus are most focused on: “Disarm, Divest, and Democratize.”
“Disarm” for disarming and dismantling the UOPD, “Divest” for divesting the
UO Foundation from fossil fuels, and “Democratize” for the democratization of
the Board of Trustees. We see these struggles as being interconnected because
the goal of democratizing the Board of Trustees is crucial in achieving the goals
of divestment from fossil fuels and the disarming/dismantling of the UOPD.
Without a democratized Board, we will continue to have our demands ignored by
the University of Oregon. In order to achieve the change we seek, we are working
in solidarity with other organizers on campus to collectively fight for our shared
vision of a better UO. This will be the first of multiple efforts for our movement to
build solidarity. We hope during the new school year to create links with activist
groups, organized labor, and other campuses in order to build power in numbers
and work together to achieve our shared goals.

Fourth and finally, we have started a partnership with the UO Young
Democratic Socialists of America (UOYDSA). As part of this new coordination
project, members of UOYDSA will collaborate with us to help us relaunch the
organization at the start of the new school year. The pandemic has significantly
impacted our organizing capacity, so the UOYDSA members will assist in our

organizing and recruitment efforts during this essential period for Democratize
UO as we work to rebuild our capacity. We welcome this opportunity to work
collaboratively with these talented and committed members of the UO community
who share our vision for the future of UO and whose help will be essential.

We are looking forward to finally being able to see all of our friends and
comrades on campus this year and hope you will join us in our fight! If yowd
like to get in contact with us our email is reclaim.highered.uo@gmail.com and
you can directly message us on Instagram @democratizeuo. Additionally, we
encourage those looking to get involved with our organizing to join our Discord
server where we communicate and coordinate!

In Solidarity,
Democratize UO

Neighborhood Anarchist Collective
Public Gathering
Sunday Oct I7th 5-7pm

Digital Public
Gatherings are a
monthly meeting to
welcome new people
to the collective and
come together to
learn what people are
working on, gather
advice, and discuss
projects.

Connect to meeting at: https://8x8.vc/naceugene/ public

Contact NAC ar: neighborhoodanarchists.org/get-involved,

UO Young Democratic Socialists of America
Meeting every Wednesday at 7pm

Weeks 2 &

Weeks 3-9 & 17; EMU 23

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @UOYDSA

Join our Discord server and email list for updates!

By: Rosie

Weall know that one of the most controversial
topics on everyone's minds right now is vaccines. At
the University of Oregon, we have begun in person
classes again at full capacity, and many people are
under the impression that the COVID-19 vaccine
will be required for all on campus students. However,
the university is much more lenient about their policy
than they may seem, with an “exemption form” that
is incredibly easy to fill out and really doesn't require
more than a signature.

While anti-vaxxers may rejoice at the fact
that they can enter in-person classes with little
more than a couple clicks, those who were already
uncertain about the safety of going back on campus
with the delta variant raging will likely not be
pleased to find out they are in a full capacity class
where vaccines are not truly required and social
distancing is merely “encouraged”, With the R-naught
of the delta variant being 8.5 people (meaning every
infected person will infect up to 8.5 people) and
breakthrough cases becoming more common with
the new strains, it would not be surprising if COVID
rates at the University will increase sharply within
weeks of classes starting. Luckily, 95% of reporting
students and 96% percent of staff at the University of
Oregon are vaccinated so one can only hope that the
university will maintain low enough COVID rates to
remain open for at least the rest of fall term.

In Oregon, large crowds continue to protest
vaccine and mask mandates in the name of personal
freedom, with hundreds swarming the Oregon
Capitol in Salem just a few weeks ago to protest mask
and vaccine mandates. The leniency in vaccine policy
from the University of Oregon is likely meant to tip
toe around the growing population of anti-vaxxers
as well as the conservative groups which advocate
against vaccine mandates here in Oregon. However,
this vaccine uncertainty and protest is not just limited
to Oregon, all across the US vaccine hesitancy has
continued to be prevalent, which is very indicative of
our level of privilege. A study by (Solis. et al. 2021),
showed that vaccine hesitancy is much more prevalent
in high income countries compared to lower income
ones, and this is in part due to the differences in
access to vaccines worldwide.

According to an analysis done by the BMJ
on publicly available data, high income countries
have reserved more than half of the world’s vaccine
supply despite making up only 14% of the world’s
population. This is a phenomenon that has come
to be known as “vaccine hoarding” where wealthy
countries like the US reserve more vaccines (in our
case more than twice the amount needed) than the

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Vaccine Privilege in the United States

country needs to vaccinate its entire population.
This phenomenon js especially disturbing given
that lower income countries are arguably those that
are in most desperate need of vaccines, yet access to
them is restricted by the unfathomable amount of
vaccines hoarded by wealthier nations. We are also
pancy among higher
in current vaccination

able to see this vaccine dis

and lower income countries
rates, with higher income countries like the US
having vaccination rates (first dose) upwards of 60%,
and lower income countries like Afghanistan still
having less than 2% of its population vaccinated.
Though programs such as “Covax” have been created
to ensure that vaccines are made available around the
world (with high income countries compensating
cost for lower income countries), it has been a slow
process and the US has thrown out more than 15
million doses of the COVID vaccine since March.

Lower income countries generally do not
have the capacity to manufacture oxygen or life
saving drugs. These countries are the ones that most
need the surplus of vaccine doses; unfortunately
they will likely have to suffer until at least 2022- the
date Covax gave for when they can provide a 20%
vaccination rate to lower income countries. Income
level is also a local issue in the vaccine crisis, at least
20 states did not include the homeless in their vaccine
rollout plans.

In the US, where the vaccine is extremely

accessible, we have turned the vaccine not into
a public health issue, but a political issue, with
conservative groups becoming advocates of the anti-
vax movement (very ironic that their
protection of bodily autonomy does
not extend to women’s uteruses), and
liberals enforcing vaccine mandates.
With unvaccinated Americans being 11
times more likely to die from COVID
and related complications and 10 times
more likely to be hospitalized, the
politicization of COVID in a population
where vaccines are highly accessible
only further contributes to the suffering
of those less wealthy, both within
the country and worldwide.
With the privilege we have here in the
United States to have such easy access to
vaccines, we must educate ourselves on
the implications of not getting/getting
vaccinated and what we can do to help
achieve vaccine equity both in our
country and worldwide.

Here in Eugene, programs like the Whitebird
Clinic and St Vincent De Paul are working to
prioritize vaccination of our houseless neighbors.
Many homeless people are elderly or have underlying
health issues that make them much more vulnerable
to suffering serious side effects from this virus,
which is why it’s important that we advocate for our
government to provide vaccine accessibility to people
in all areas and all walks of life currently residing in
the United States.

Although for many of us it seems life has gone
back to normal and COVID is just about over, this
delusion couldn't be farther from the truth. Here in
the US, and at the UO specifically, we live in a bubble
of privilege in which we can still go to class, parties,
events and pretend like the pandemic isn’t a major
issue, however, across the world (including here)
lower income communities are still struggling with
devastating personal, social, and economic losses
from the pandemic which has not ceased to rage
through these populations. Of course, no individual
has the ability to go out and prevent the mass spread
of COVID; however, getting vaccinated if you have
access, wearing your mask, and supporting programs
like Whitebird are all small things you can do to
help those who may not have the same COVID and
vaccine privilege as we do here at the UO.

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Climateyustice league @ gmail.com
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Cascadia Forest Defenders:
Flat Country Tree Sit

"eae old growth forests,” said activist Willow Danielson.

In addition to pressure being put on local officials, the Forest Defenders

are considering the impact that the Biden Administration will have on national
forest policy and its response to the continuing climate crisis. There is an emphasis
by activists for both Senators Wyden and Merkley to join Congressman Peter
DeFazio in opposing the timber sale.

Cascadia Forest Defenders has alegacy of direct actions across the Cascadia
bioregion, but local officials have been keen to bide their time for favorable federal
administrations to give the green light on such controversial projects. Now that
¢ the Biden administration is finding its footing on climate change policy, direct
action groups like CFD may have the opportunity to end the proposed sale and
{have a wider national voice on forest policy.

Locally the recent tree sit represents a test run for direct actions hoping
to stop the proposal for good. “We have made it clear to anyone considering
purchasing these critical ecosystems to be clear cut that we will be there every step
of the way fighting back,” said Derek Garmin. The timber sale is in the McKenzie
River drinking watershed, and would have significant impacts on two of the
McKenzie's major tributaries, Olallie and Anderson Creeks.

The Cascadia Forest Defenders (CFD) have finished up a two-week tree sit at With the Flat Country timber sale more than six years in the making:
the Flat Country timber sale in the Willamette National Forest. The sit which _ time is running out for communities, activists, and organizers to put an end to this
ended on September 30th was a showcase of the building protest efforts against _ controversial sale. Success here could signal a larger shift in forest policy in the face
the proposed timber sale in a hydrologically sensitive buffer of the Three Sisters _ of the expanding climate crisis. For more information on the sale, or how youcan get
Wilderness, and a major tributary source for McKenzie River. The sale, which will _ involved, please visit the CFD website: https://forestdefensenow.wordpress.com/
be clear cut, threatens thousands of acres of old growth forest in the McKenzie

Watershed, and has been opposed by Congressman Peter DeFazio and prominent

forest ecologists Jerry Franklin and

Norm Johnson.

In CED's public statement
the group is pressuring local
Willamette National Forest
Supervisor Dave Warnack to
drop the proposed sale and
end the practice of old growth
and mature forest logging. “If
Willamette National Forest
Supervisor Dave Warnack wants
to serve our community and the
best interests of the innumerable ©
community members that rely on
the ecosystems in the Willamette
National Forest for climate
stability, drinking water, wildfire
resilience, and recreation, he must
immediately end the practice of
industrial logging in mature and

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WildCAT

CASCADIA ACTION TEAM

The Cascadia Action Team (aka WildCAT) is an incredible volunteer
team, which supports ongoing conservation campaigns through
education, outreach, advocacy, and hands-on action.

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Prisoner Mail Project

The prison project is trying something new. For our incarcerated readers we have decided
to give out three prompts to help you and your writing process. The first prompt will
be related to what is happening now in social justice and the activist scene. The second
prompt will be asking about the daily injustices you and your family face while dealin,
with the prison system and any other day to day issues that you may face. The third
prompt will be any fun stories that you would like to share! Be as radical or as coolheaded
as jou like when answering the prompts. Submissions of all word counts are always
welcome!

Prompts:

What is the reality of COVID-19 inside prison walls? Are you seeing less or
more care being taken by the facility as a whole? If you know, what has it been like
for your family and friends trying to see or get in contact with you? How are you
feeling about the vaccines? What -if any- information have you found or heard about
Covib: Finally, what are two immediate changes you feel could help you right
now?

What are some daily injustices you are currently facing behind prison walls? If
youre feeling it, write us a tially check ‘in log and we will give your voice its spotlight.

What are some crazy stories you've been dying to Share? Have a story of that
one wild night out? Grab a pen and get to writing. We want to hear it all.

We will still be accepting any and all submissions from as many prisons/jails we can

reach, so don't fret if you don’t feel the prompts are for you. We still want to see your
poems, artwork and writings alike.

C fa ewlae Completeness

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Richard Clyucae

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of the Univerre

Pen Pal Updates:
We at the Insurgent want to help you get the resources you need! Thet+ le wh vot +e be ervuere
We hope that starting with a conversation is the best way to do so. Below 4 P
we have a signup tear-out for our incarcerated readers. If you are interested iu Ov esalyvee fret crea Whele

in getting connected and starting a conversation please do not hesitate to

fill out your information and we will get you connected with a reader who

will keep the conversation going!

If you're not sure about becoming a penpal please think again.
Being an inmate's outlet, a person to bounce ideas off of, or share art with,

Whanw he
MmOn Couselouesasd

is doing more than most! So dont be shy, write your firstletter today and = Ea M&F mbe Hot terne

we will help get you connected with an inmate who’ also looking to start a

conversation.

All prisoners please send
submissions, pen pal requests,

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and subscriptions to: People , beth anchrent and

The Student Insurgent
1228 University of Oregon

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Eugene, OR 97403-1223 Unseen imacer anal

OFeGgoOn Prison Report ‘°,'°

Kealvtiee .

During this time of widespread survival and resistance, the T
Oregon Prison Report shares & archives the voices of people INS I
imprisoned across Oregon. This project seeks to break bre the
walls that invisibilize and disappear the struggles of imprisoned
= people & to aid in the fight against the systematic abuse and Twitter
injustice of confinement @ORprisonreport
If you are a loved one, friend, comrade, of someone in an Instagram
Oregon prison, jail, or detention center, & want to share their @OregonPrisonReport
struggles or yours, please email
oregonprisonreporteriseup.net. Email
If the words are not your own, please include where consent was OregonPrisonReport@
given for their story to be shared publicly. All submissions will be riseup.net

anonymous.

Oregon Prison Report
PO Box 12742

Call for Vestimomny "=

Sag

1

How do I hold my
temper

keeping my grace

and not become bitter
stuck in this infamous
place?

I remember even at
seven

I dreamed of a better
place

a better race

than the human race.

Stuck in this infamous
place
without a trace

ly a history of misery
and indentured slavery.

I pledge no allegiance
to this flag

and free

I let my pants sag

2.

Tam the little blackboy’s
soul

taken from its mother’s
bosom and sold.

While the old ones still
linked to Africa kill
the white ones with
their head

down and eyes closed.

Stuck in this infamous
place

without a trace

only a history of misery
and indentured slavery.

I pledge no allegiance
to this flag

and free

I let my pants sag.

3

Tam John Lennon who
spoke

of one race

and of one place

Iam Mother Teresa who
came to death row

unafraid of any gunner

Tam Martin Luther
King Jr.

shot down on the
balcony

in the midst of his
dream.

Tam Macolm X
betrayed

by the beastly and burnt
surreptitiously

stuck in this infamous
place

without a trace
only a history of misery
and indentured slavery.

I pledge no allegiance
to this flag 8

and free
I let my pants sag.

4,

Tam the one not
mentioned

in your constitution as
human

not allowed to vote
until it made no
difference

Job is just a 2003 year
old metaphor

The true warrior was a
slave

and John Brown the
true

hero of the brave.

Tam Emmett Till, hung
from an old beautiful
southern willow tree.

Stuck in this infamous
lace
ithout a trace
only a history of misery
and indentured slavery,
I pledge no allegiance
to this flag

and free
I let my pants sag.

- Spoon Jackson

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The submission selected for this
issue is a poem written by Spoon
Jackson. I chose this poem by virtue
of Jackson’s bold personality that
shines through the repetition ’of the
final stanza in each section:

“I pledge no allegiance
to this flag
and free
I let my pants sag.”

Jackson offers a. window into the

soul of “this infamous place” and

ie 4 through his words, involves not

= just his personal history, but that

of America and the sufferers of

_ generations. This “place” becomes

\ the topeed lives of those others,

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a X... 1am the one not mentioned.

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ORE YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, , Tv this infamous place.
AEAUESTS FOR SUPPORT, Anvb OTHER - Jose Alfredo O.A.

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,

Spike Lee's “NYC Epicenters 9/11>2021%”

Review

By David Patrick Schranck, Jr.

Between late August and mid-September of this year, HBO released Spike
Lee's four-part documentary series, NYC Epicenters 9/11>2021%, that connects
the 20th anniversary of 9/11, inarguably one of the most pivotal events of the 21st
century so far, with the current COVID-19 pandemic and New York City’s role as
an “epicenter” in both of these earth-shattering crises. Many other networks and
streaming services put together their own documentary specials to commemorate
the 20th anniversary of 9/11, most notably Netflix’s Turning Point: 9/11 and the
War on Terror, but I'd argue that none give the audience a perspective on 9/11 as
unique and personal as Lee's latest project does. With Epicenters, he showcases
his love for his hometown and his equally strong love for its residents in a very
charming and endearing way. However, the series is certainly not without its
flaws.

Lee sets the tone of the series very quickly. At some moments the content
is very serious, while during others Lee seeks to put both his interview subjects
and his audience at ease with jokes and references to points of connection (teasing
about sports rivalries, highlighting subjects’ New York roots, discussing subjects’
esteemed alma maters, Lee's in-joke alternate names of the various boroughs like
“Da People’s Republic of Brooklyn” and “Da
Boogie Down Bronx” used on title cards).
This serves to cut the high tension and
emotion evoked by his two core subjects
in a jovial manner. It also is ultimately a
reflection of the distinctive personality of
the man behind the camera.

The first two episodes of the series
released in August centered on COVID-19's
impact on New York City and the Trump
presidency. The second two episodes released
in September focus on 9/11’s impact on
New York. The first two episodes seemed to
be the weaker half in my view. The COVID
episodes are much more representative of Lee's personal politics than the 9/11
episodes, in a way mirroring the political division of the COVID-era as opposed
to the “unity” of the 9/11 era. Though his analysis of President Trump's (or, as
Lee calls him, President Agent Orange) failures to adequately address COVID are
solid, he falls short in other places.

The section concentrating on the Black Lives Matter uprising of the
summer of 2020 in some respects missed the mark and revealed the shortcomings
of Lee's biases more so than any others. Powerfully, he includes a comparison
between his magnum opus, Do the Right Thing, and the police killings of Eric
Garner and George Floyd that reminds audiences of the tragic persistence of the
issue of police brutality against Black people in America. Additionally, his pairing
of protest footage from around the world with Donny Hathaway's “Someday We'll
All Be Free” was gorgeous and moving. But, Lee chooses to also highlight Rep.
Hakeem Jeffries and a group of liberal Black Lives Matters in New York who both
reject the idea of defunding the police (let alone the idea of actually working to
abolish them). To his credit, he does feature Rep. Cori Bush and a NYC activist
who speak more favorably of the proposal too. But, I got the sense that Lee's
sympathies were more aligned with those against the idea than those for it.

Throughout the series, Lee interviews major political figures (mostly
those representing New York), his famous NYC-local friends (Rosie Perez, Jeffrey
Wright, Steve Buscemi. etc.). and evervdav veoole affected bv these tragedies. The,

ARTS & CULTURE

most powerful
subjects in
the series are
unquestionably
the average
New Yorkers
featured. Their
stories tend to
bear the deepest
emotions and the most authenticity. While to a degree I understand why Lee
chose to take the same tone with the politicians as he does with the common
people featured, it rubbed me the wrong way. The vast majority of the politicians
featured in the film (with the exception of former NY Governor George Pataki)
are Democrats and most of those are establishment, corporate Democrats. Seeing
Lee be friendly and non-confrontational with ghouls like Reps. Hakeem Jeffries
and Ritchie Torres just didr't sit right. Ultimately, Lee is a wealthy and famous
liberal Democrat and not a radical activist, so this doesn’t really surprise me.

‘The series really hits its stride in the
last two episodes about 9/11, though even
these episodes are not perfect. Lee homes
in on the visceral and deep sorrow of
that horrific day in American history and
its aftermath. As I alluded to before, the
stories told by first responders, friends and
families of those lost, and New Yorkers
describing their memories of the day
were quite impactful, moving me to tears
at points. My only major issue with these
episodes is that they seemed to lack a very
necessary analysis of the subsequent War
on Terror and Islamophobia in the United States. In my view, this is a crucial part
of the story of 9/11, and the choice to almost completely avoid it seems odd and
surprising.

In the original cut of the series, Lee had intended to include interviews
with 9/11 conspiracy theorists. This segment was removed before airing after he
received backlash. As a viewer, it seemed that the removal of these interviews
didn’t hinder the series, as many last minute re-edits often do. The only indication
that conspiracy theories were going to be prominently featured was during an
interview with a man who was close with one of the flight attendants on United
flight 93 which crashed in Shanksville, PA, CeeCee Lyles, who commented that
he believed that the flight was shot down by the US military and not crashed as a
result of a passenger revolt.

While Spike Lee's series is by no means perfect, I think the emotions
of the series are what save it and make it worth watching. But, ultimately I did
enjoy the series despite my its shortcomings in some respects. Epicenters bears
its heart on its sleeve in a very sentimental manner that sticks with you. Humor,
mourning, anger, and hope are interweaved So, while I do recommend giving the
series a watch, do so with a critical eye. I give the series 4/5 stars. You can watch it
streaming on HBO Max.

a

“Fill Me”

By: River

fill me with rage. fill me with despair. how dare you, keeper of all things, not fill
me with the willingness to do something about it? fill me with the willingness
to do something about it. fill me with magic tricks. i've got one for you, see
that forest over there? watch it disappear.
see that river? better not get in. if you're
brave enough to swim, better rinse it off
you after. see that sky, black and blue?
clotted with capitalism? stained with
white supremacy? fill me with grief over
all of this greed. fill me with fire in my
chest while i plan out carefully what i am
going to do about it. fill me with a plan.
fill my world with the right people to
turn it around. fill every heart with the
burning desire to fight back. fill me with
knowing when to shut up, and knowing
when to speak up, fill me with recovery.
remind me i am not an imposter in my
own body. remind me. remember? fill
me with basil, the way the scent reaches
every bit of the lungs, gets stuck in the
wet of your mouth, the hairs of your
nostrils. fill me with mint, so green, so
tall, so ready to live. if mint could make
a sound it would be mirth. just laughing #
in complete joy. fill me with complete
joy. i'm so sick of grieving, fill me whole |
while we resist together. fill me up with |
revolution. feel how it surges up. fill me
with insurgency, with a path to recovery.
fill me with the understanding that
doing nothing at all is death anyway. fill '
me with doing something. fill me with |}
retribution. fill me with redistribution. }
fill me with living, fill me with the weight

of it, how that feels in a body. fill me i
with hope in the face of almost certain

failure. in the face of fighting anyway. fill
me with making mistakes and mistakes and mistakes. with lessons about how
to move forward. better, and stronger. transformed. i’m sick of being resilient.
fill me with tenderness until i balloon burst from the brush of a finger. i am
not resilient. i am not whole. fill me with every broken, frustrated piece of

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myself, fill. me with every story i tell myself that holds me back. every story
that keeps me going, fill me with surviving. with fear. with how scared i am
of other people seeing me. witnessing all my messy, healing parts. witness me
despite this. fill me with a shadow of doubt.
fill me with enough doubt to doubt all the
doubt. fill me with a millimeter of trust.
just enough to get started. just enough to
build on. fill me with measurements and
steps. fill me with opportunity. fill me
with brief flashes of a different world. snap
me out of only dreaming what i've been
| taught to dream. fill me with possibility.
fill me with invention. fill me with every
word ever spoken, ever written. with
expansiveness. with contradiction. with
knowledge. with
power. with intention. fill me with one
foot in front of the other. with one day at
a time. with cracks in the sidewalk passing
underneath. one hour, one minute, one

collective collective

second at a time. fill me with reverie. wrap
me up in dreams precious enough to match
the swimming glow inside of me. inside of
you. wrap me up in music while the bitter
burrows, refusing to let up. wrap me up
in songs. wrap me in yellow. wrap me in
moonlight, a triangle from me to the sun.
a constellation. wrap me in stars sobbing in
a graveyard. surround me with old bones.
fill me up with far away family, a different
coast, a different timezone. wrap me in the
branches of a magnificent redwood. shake
me like a swift and forceful wind. shake
me until it all comes avalanching down,
and out, shake me until i understand my
own power. my own voice. surround me
with the deep magic of the earth, surround

(EE me with streams, glistening, all leading to
rivers, all leading to oceans. fill me with the still, quiet darkness of the forest.
where spirits gift knowledge and passageways forward. fill me with readiness.
it may be dark, but i am awake. it's time for action. and your limbs will want to
be ready for the dissent.

ART BY:

MONE BADARUDDIN

ot

ART BY:
AVERY MASSENGALE
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